Women and political work

Tareq al-Suwaidan gave an episode of his programme Al-Wasatiyya to women, their role in political work and what is open to them there. ⁵ In his opening he said people agree that a woman is half of society and has proved herself in many fields of life, but the political side remains: some doubt she is suited to it or that the sharia allows it; some accept her participation but restrict what she may and may not do; and some hold that she has the right to take part but has not shown her effectiveness despite reaching parliament and political office. ^{6 7}

The main guest was Dr Adnan Hasan Baharith of Saudi Arabia. The presenter introduced him as his fellow student in the United States, holding a doctorate in education, with much written work on women, including a book on women and economic development and a book on the conflict between femininity and women's work. ^{1 8} The presenter said that for his book on the conflict between the female element and political work he consulted more than 580 references. ⁹ Joking, the presenter said he himself would be the women's champion in this episode, and stressed that his guest is no enemy of women but holds a respected view that would be debated. ^{8 10}

With him were experts, men and women, some of the women members of parliament, and professors of the sharia. ¹⁰ The presenter said they had invited many male and female university students, the young men stayed away, and so most of the audience were young women. ¹¹

The presenter asked the audience: do you support women standing for political office? ¹² Seventy-six percent said yes and 24% no; he said he had expected the yes vote to be higher, and that most of those against were women, since the audience was mostly female. ² One who voted no explained that not every office should be held by a woman, cited the hadith about a people who made a woman their ruler, and said a woman's make-up differs from a man's so she would not lead the highest offices well. ^{13 14} Another said a woman's sensitive nature differs from a man's and does not suit the highest offices. ¹⁴ The presenter mentioned studies which, he said, show that a woman placed over other women is not biased in their favour. ¹⁵

Dr Baharith said that women and politics is one of the thorny contemporary questions, much argued in the press and the universities; that the truth with God is one; and that whoever strives and reaches it has two rewards and whoever misses it has one. ^{16 17 18} His view is that femininity prevents a woman from reaching political authority, because political authority requires maleness. ¹⁹

When the presenter asked him about women who reached power, such as Indira Gandhi, Shajar al-Durr and Bilqis, he said Bilqis had a thousand men under her, and that a woman can be said to have succeeded in politics only when the whole structure is female, which in his view has never happened in human history; he denied what some sociologists say about an ancient matriarchal society. ^{19 20 21} He gave the example of a ten-year-old placed at the top of the political pyramid and surrounded by thinkers, scholars and leaders, who would do no worse than another, from which the presenter understood that the successful examples succeeded with men's support. ^{21 22} He said femininity exempts a woman from fighting, so she does not wage jihad, and bars her in the sharia from the headship by texts on which, he said, scholars are close to unanimous. ^{22 23}

He argued from 'A'isha: he said he had studied her whole life, that in his view she succeeded in every field except the political one, and that what made her fail there was femininity. ^{24 25} He attributed to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib a saying to the effect that if any woman could be caliph it would be 'A'isha, and to Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi a saying to the effect that had Abu Bakr had a son like her, the matter would not have left his line; these attributions are his and are not checked here. ²⁵

He grounded his view in the idea that worship is realised on earth only through two things: the existence of the human being who worships, which is the woman's first field, for which God equipped her and which a man cannot enter; and the building-up of the earth that makes that human being fit, a field God gave to the man. ^{26 27 28} He said a woman reaches the summit through faith, the roots of character, childbearing and caring for people, and that her role in building up the earth is like the man's role in procreation. ^{29 30} He gave figures by which a woman's average age of creativity and excellence is 56, once she is free of the burdens of motherhood, against 39 for a man; these are his figures, with no source named in the episode. ³¹

Dr Hayat, whom the presenter introduced as a member of parliament and of the Islamic movement, objected that she needs not 580 references but one clear reference, the Qur'an, the Sunna and the Prophet ﷺ's life; that such talk makes her feel a gap between what happened in the time of the Prophet and the caliphs and what she hears; that building up the earth is shared by man and woman; and that femininity enriches political work rather than barring it, since a woman's sensitivity, focus and many roles make it a human work rather than a purely functional one. ^{32 33 34} The presenter remarked that this was an opposing view, not a rebuttal, and that he had not yet heard a rational proof from either side. ³⁵

A participant from Yemen said that as a Muslim woman she is required to care for the affairs of Muslims, political participation included; that women are caught between the hammer of custom and the anvil of Western movements; and that the guest's case is theory that does not address women's real problems in education, inheritance and rights. ^{36 37} She added that reality shows prominent, successful women in political life, and that studies say the difference between men's and women's minds lies only in vision, women seeing more broadly and men more narrowly, and society needs both. ^{37 38}

Dr Salah al-Din, from Tunisia, said the view rests on a biological outlook that founds a woman's function on her bodily make-up, which events, science and experience have left behind; no basic biological difference bearing on political practice has been shown scientifically, and only a few still hold it. ^{39 40 41} Dr Khalid Hroub, introduced by the presenter as a well-known media figure and theorist, asked what difference there is between a woman running a school, a company or a ministry, since all turn on the ability to manage, and said wars and disasters have been led by moody male rulers, so moodiness and emotion apply to men perhaps more than to women. ^{42 43} Dr Baharith answered that calling his view "stone age" was unfitting, that women still bear and give birth, and that for some women intellectual output begins after the childbearing years. ^{44 45}

Dr Baharith asked when women's political right began, said the Prophet gave rights to all people yet is not known to have appointed any woman to any political work, and saw in this a strong proof. ^{46 47} The presenter replied that in America a woman has the right to be head of state and has never become one, and that something not happening is no proof that it is forbidden. ^{47 48}

The guest cited the hadith of Abu Bakra about a people who made a woman their ruler when Chosroes died and Persia put his daughter in his place; he said Abu Bakra recalled it when 'A'isha came to Basra and it kept him out of the affair, and that the hadith is sound. ^{49 50} The presenter asked him: Talha and al-Zubayr ranked higher than Abu Bakra, and they accepted a woman at their head. ⁵⁰ The guest said 'A'isha was not the head of a people in her going out but an emotional symbol for an army of reconciliation run by those beneath her, that she came back regretting it, and reported that she asked Ibn 'Umar why he had not stopped her, and he said he had seen a man who had a hold over her, 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. ^{51 52} He asked: if those who went out with her held that a woman may engage in politics, where were their own wives? ⁵³ He saw 'A'isha as a case apart who does not stand for women in general. ^{53 54}

He took up the counsel of Umm Salama at al-Hudaybiyya, when the Companions held back from sacrificing and shaving and she advised the Prophet to go out and do it himself, and saw it as a moment of legislation on the rule for one prevented from reaching the House, not a political act. ^{54 55 56} He cited al-Juwayni, Imam al-Haramayn, as saying no woman is known to have given counsel and been right except Umm Salama, and said nothing was built on it. ^{56 57} He said the same situation recurred at the Farewell Pilgrimage, when the Prophet went in to 'A'isha, and saw in it a sign that the matter did not depend on a woman's counsel. ^{58 59}

The presenter introduced Dr Ruhayyil Gharaiba as a doctor of the sharia whose thesis was on women and political work. ⁶⁰ Dr Gharaiba said the divine address came to men and women alike in all fields of life, and the political field is not excepted from them except by someone who wants to separate politics from life. ^{61 62} He saw parliamentary work as oversight and legislation: legislation rests on knowledge and opinion, both asked of women; oversight is enjoining good and forbidding wrong, asked of women as of men, citing al-Tawba 71. ⁶³ He said women's political work began in the Prophet's time: the first political compact for founding the state was the second pledge of 'Aqaba, attended in complete secrecy by 270 men and two women, Umm Mani' and Umm 'Umara. ^{64 65} He counted Umm Salama's counsel as political work and a valued opinion. ^{65 66}

On Abu Bakra's hadith he said it is the only sound text on the question, that Abu Bakra was not among the senior Companions, and that some thirty Companions were in 'A'isha's army. ^{66 67} He held that 'A'isha's error, on which historians and jurists agree, was not that she took charge but that she went out in opposition while there was a caliph who had received the pledge, 'Ali, and that opposition itself is political work resting on independent judgement. ^{67 68} He said those who went out with her would not have placed themselves under her command had they not valued her role in reconciliation. ⁶⁹

Dr Muthanna, also a specialist in the sharia, said what Dr Baharith offered were not deductive sharia proofs fit for the question, and argued from the verse of the women's pledge in al-Mumtahana, al-Mumtahana 12, which he read as a pledge to the Prophet as ruler of the new state rather than a pledge to enter Islam, since the verse addresses believing women, who were already Muslim. ^{70 71 72 73} He held that Abu Bakra's hadith is bound to its historical circumstance: the Prophet said it of Chosroes' daughter, a non-Muslim Persian, foreseeing the fall of that state, not as a prohibition. ^{73 74 75}

The presenter said he had studied this hadith in detail, with 22 of its narrations, while most who speak about it have studied only one. ^{75 76} He told the story as he understands it: conflicts grew within the Sasanian house, an order was given to kill its males so that no one would contest the crown prince, then the crown prince died before his father, then Chosroes died, they found no man of the house and made a woman ruler, and the Prophet mentioned the hadith in astonishment. ^{76 77} He cited another narration, which he called sound, worded about a people who made a woman their monarch, so for him the issue is kingship, not office in general. ⁷⁷ He granted the principle that the general wording, not the particular occasion, governs, but held that it has exceptions and this is one. ⁷⁸ He ended the story by saying they later found a small boy of the house who had escaped the killing, Yazdegerd, who became king and fought the wars with the Muslims. ⁷⁹

A student said that when the Qur'an tells the story of Bilqis it censures her people's worship of the sun, not the fact that she was a woman leader; another said political participation is among women's rights and that the Prophet took his wives' advice on campaigns and other matters, which is consultation. ^{79 80 81}

Dr Baharith challenged anyone to bring a single statement from the books of the Prophet's life and Sunna showing that 'A'isha engaged in political work in her going out, and said it was an effort at reconciliation. ^{82 83} He said the first pledge was a moral and faith pledge, called the women's pledge because it involved no fighting, and that the second pledge was the one with fighting and political matters. ⁸⁴ He held that women's pledge was particular to the Prophet, since, he said, Muslims agree no woman gave the pledge to Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman or 'Ali. ^{85 86} He denied that the story of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf consulting women is in the books of Sunna, saying it is in the histories, which also say he consulted boys in the Qur'an schools, so no ruling can rest on it. ^{86 87 88}

The presenter asked: if a woman and a man of equal qualifications and abilities stood in your constituency, whom would you elect? ^{89 90} Fifty-four percent chose the woman and 46% the man, and the presenter noted that in actual voting the gap between supporters and opponents was not large. ³

A woman guest, introduced as coming from an old political family, said holding office is the last stage of political work, preceded by caring for Muslims' affairs, joining election campaigns and voting, and that the result reflects societies still at the start of women's participation. ^{91 92} She cited the woman who disputed, al-Mujadila 1, and saw in it the highest kind of political work: a woman arguing with the highest authority for herself and for other women, until legislation came that changed the prevailing custom; for her, political work is both a right and a duty. ^{92 93 94 95}

The presenter asked Dr Hayat, the member of parliament, how qiwama, the husband's guardianship, works with her husband given her role as a deputy. ^{96 97} She said she was not surprised by the result and found it encouraging for Islamic work in coming elections; she understands qiwama as belonging to the family and to obeying her husband there, while her colleagues in political work have other rights over her, not qiwama. ^{97 98 99} If her husband differs with her on a political opinion, she said, she votes her own way after discussion, and neither she nor he feels any resentment. ^{99 100}

One guest disputed the poll, saying that in reality women do not elect women or trust them much, that women students do not vote for women students in university elections, and that when he once asked women staff to choose a woman to head their department they chose the only man; he called the result a moment's hypocrisy, perhaps a reaction against the guest. ^{100 101 102} Another participant said he favours women's participation, but the home is the factory of politics, so a woman who wants to offer a political model should raise a political man; the presenter asked whether a man is not as responsible for upbringing as a woman, since the Prophet ran political affairs and also raised a family. ^{103 104 105} A participant said that the Queen of Sheba, when she asked her people's counsel, al-Naml 32, founded the logic of consultation in the Qur'anic text. ¹⁰⁶

Dr Salah al-Din said marginalising women is not peculiar to the Islamic movement: society is male-dominated, and parties use women as an electoral card, recruiting them and then sidelining them after reaching office; he cited revolutions in Algeria and Iran in which women made sacrifices and were then pushed aside. ^{107 108} A student said the decline of women's role is not caused by religion but by men's view of women, women's view of women, and an upbringing that makes a woman second rank. ^{109 110} The presenter said his book on making the leader has a chapter on the woman leader, which reports Western studies showing that women do not like to have a woman placed over them. ¹¹¹

Dr Baharith held that women's political lag is plain across the world and caused by femininity itself, and said women make up 13% of top leadership at the United Nations; the figure is his. ¹¹² He said qiwama for him is the guardianship of men as a whole over women as a whole, not only of husbands, while a woman chooses her own legal school and manages her own wealth within the sharia's limits. ^{113 114} The presenter said qiwama is a sensitive subject that touches every home and would get an episode of its own. ¹¹⁵

The presenter said he found his guest's views surprising, but that the guest has evidence and research that must be respected and heard, and that a difference of opinion spoils no friendship. ^{115 116} He then summed up his own view: women are the counterparts of men, and it is distinguishing between them that needs clear, undisputed evidence; where the evidence is disputed, the base rule stands that a woman takes part in all of life, the political side included. ^{116 117} He saw the dispute over her participation as coming partly from rational and social outlooks, from custom and from men's dominance; the hadith as concerning the case of the Persians and Chosroes; and barring half of society from participation as something that cannot rest on disputed evidence. ^{117 118 119}

He set out the range of views: those for whom a woman holds no political office at all; those who allow offices other than a ministry or a chief governorship; and those who allow all offices except the supreme headship. ¹²⁰ He said he once held another view, and after long reflection and research became convinced that a woman has the right, indeed the duty, to take part in political office, and may reach every office, head of state included. ⁴ He mentioned that in his tapes on "Immortal Women" (al-Nisa' al-Khalidat) he covered women's economic, scholarly, legal, preaching, charitable and political participation. ^{119 120}

He closed with an idea he says he repeats in every episode: Islam is not a line from which anyone who strays by a point is deviant, but a current like a river with two banks, laxity on one side and excess on the other, and within it degrees of difference, all respected; his guest's view lies on one side of the current and his own on the other, and the middle way has degrees. ^{121 122 123}